Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Game #3 Hanau Hornets vs. Holzgerlingen Twister

This game was a pretty good snapshot at some of the differences one encounters between D1 college football and the GFL2. This was my 3rd game with the Hornets and after this game we have about a month off, with only practices for 2 of the weeks. Some of the guys had vacations planned during the time off, including myself. Our team has also caught the injury bug over the past few weeks and the time off should help some of the guys heal up.

Because of the injuries and some other extenuating circumstances, we were only traveling with about 35 players, which left our depth situation interesting to say the least. Also, I was informed before we arrived at Holzgerlingen that their field is nicknamed “The Beach” mainly because of the sand that is packed into their “Astroturf”-like field. Anybody who is familiar with Astroturf knows that it is not fun to play on because of the turf burns and scrapes one experiences when tackling or being tackled onto the turf. Also, there is concrete laid beneath the very thin turf lining, which makes those falls extra hard. If that wasn’t enough, we only brought our blue jerseys and not our white ones, and because Holzgerlingen was the home team, they chose to wear their blue jerseys. This forced us to wear a bunch of old Twister jerseys and I got lucky number 13. And if that wasn’t enough, the field was not regulation size and has to be a good 10-15 yards short. And oh yeah, it was raining.

It is tough to overcome all the normal mental distractions one faces when preparing for a football game, but these put our team over the edge. We came out very flat, both offense and defense, and the Twister jumped out to an early 14-0 lead. We regained our poise in the second quarter and roared back to take a 21-14 halftime lead.

After halftime though, our 3rd quarter woes continued, and Holzgerlingen tied the ballgame up 21-21. Our offense was just plain flat in the 2nd half and the Twister’s defensive line was able to get a bunch of pressure on myself. It was tough to get things going in the passing game. We did manage to get one more score, but at that point the game was out of reach. It was a long, tough, and sometimes strange battle, but in the end, the Twister prevailed 31-27. This drops my record with the Hornets to 1-2, but during the time off we should be able to work out some of the kinks, get healthy, and gear up for a late season push.

As for me, I’m headed off to Deggendorf, Germany to see my good friend and college teammate, Jake Flaherty of the Plattling Black Hawks for a little vacation to the South of France and Italy……